Azerbaijan seeks to have good relations with neighbours, but Armenia should take steps in this direction too: FM

He made this statement on Tuesday, speaking at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University.

The meeting was attended by expert on former USSR and Eastern Europe countries, former State Department official Stephen Sestanovic, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United States Yashar Aliyev, head of the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev as well as professors and students of university.

In his speech, Mammadyarov particularly raised the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the main priority of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.

Azerbaijan has such a geopolitical location that the solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not only important for its own development, but also for the development of entire region, Mammadyarov said.

He noted that Azerbaijan's position in this matter is clear: 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands are under occupation and more than a million people are refugees. Only after the return of these people to their homes there can be any negotiations related to the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In this regard, negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia are underway. The influence of  countries such as USA, Russia and France is very important in resolving this conflict, Mammadyarov said.

Azerbaijan is located at the crossroads of East and West and using its its geopolitical location it always made efforts to achieve stability in the region, the minister added.

Speaking about Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and Nabucco gas pipeline project, Mammadyarov said they have important role in development of statehood and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and at the same time, they have large positive impact on country's economic development and that of the countries in the region and beyond it.

/Day.Az/